Hey, guys. What do you think: Week 17 and we are resting guys for the playoffs! Pretty cool, eh.
Just a quick point:
the playoffs are different.People talk about different intensity and game speed. But there's something else. There is no room to come back from a loss. In the playoffs, you cannot fail to get the W. And that changes things.
This year, we have quite obviously been a learning team. We've cleared numerous "Prove it to Me" hurdles, and to do that, we've clearly grown and matured.
And I think a good deal of that maturation process has come after losses. I think we learned from the loss to an OK-but-not-great WASH side. Then we blew a win against banged up SEA. Then to the Vikings and Eagles. Going into those games, I didn't really expect wins because, despite our talent and quality, I sensed that the team was not mature enough. But we came out of them and kept growing.
I also think a part of this is our rookie HC. He's been so great. And he has made mistakes. There have been key moments when he had a rookie's fuzziness of judgment. And then he came through in following games and led us to where we are. The losses have been great learning moments.
And it's different in the playoffs. You can't learn from a loss and come back the next week. It's all on the line as that clock clicks to 00:00. The question is: has this young team matured enough to fulfill its potential in the NOW of playoff games?
I find that hard to answer. Most of the year, I've said, "this is great ... but it's not '99." I think that's been an accurate read. We were not ready for those games we lost, each of which we dropped because we were green and off the mark in key moments. Then, of course, we would regroup, grow, and get better, closing the gap on '99.
So. Have we--has McVay--grown enough so we are now ready for the zero-margin-for-error playoffs? Have we grown since the Philly game? We have, by my estimation, lost the two games we've played against teams that are as good as we are or better. Can we now step up and knock either out of the playoffs? Are we ready for teams very nearly on our level who are experienced in playoff intensity?
I think there's abundant reason for hope.
But, don't be surprised if we have to learn a last, bitter lesson from losing a playoff game and having to apply it to next year.
Is it '99 again? Well, we've closed the gap a long way and we are nearly there. Maybe McV is good enough to build the team and grow himself yet another level to be ready for the playoffs. We'll see.
